A Song Of Fire And Water: Verse One - Every step of the way
by ErodedPeridot
Summary: Now the song can begin, the band is tuned, their instruments at the ready. It starts..
1. Chapter 1

A Song Of Fire And Water: Verse 1

On the planet Mobius, there was once a war.

It is no different than any other world, two species, two races can't agree. Disagreement grows to distrust. Distrust grows to fear. Fear grows to hate. Hate grows to conflict. It happened on other worlds, and it happened on this one as well.

Here, it was the Mobians and the Overlanders that populated the planet. Their war was costly. And great. The Great War.

It was in this war's waning days, when the Overland Empire was crumbling and vulnerable, but not yet fallen, that a boy named William Brightwell was born.

His parents were scientists, and important members of Overlander society. The name of Brightwell had been associated with the higher fringes of Overland affairs since it's very beginning, starting with the man from which this young Brightwell had gained his name from. But these were different times, and such things were not important at that time.

Soon after his birth, the Overland Empire fell. Soon after that, it splintered apart. William Brightwells parents were connected to the group led by Colin Kintobor Senior that decided to take their chances on finding a new planet to populate. One of William's first memories is of his parents saying their goodbyes to their son before they left the planet. William had been born just over the threshold of being allowed to join his parents, and they were too important to not go.

That was William Brightwell's first brush with loss.

Young William was included into "The Heritage Project", which worked to connect the United Federation and the broken Overlanders. He was made a ward of G.U.N., and checked over by their doctors and nurses. It was then that the young Brightwell was revealed to be of a genius level intelligence. When this was discovered, those in charge ordered that he be schooled and tutored, his intellect was now property of G.U.N. and the fruits of it were to be used for their benefit.

So William Brightwell was a prisoner. And he tasted loss for a second time. It's bitterness never left his mouth.

At age 16, after so much loss, William Brightwell gained something. In one of the sporadic moments of peace he had, he was tinkering with a broken computer, trying to see if anything could be salvaged from its electronic body. As he worked, he must have crossed some wires, or touched the right circuit at the right moment. Whatever it was, a spark was formed from the action. There was a flash, and he felt a small shock leap across his hand. Grabbing his hand and letting out a cry, William Brightwell watched as the dead monitor suddenly flickered to life. A blue screen with white text greeted him as he stared into it.

 **HELLO FATHER. IT IS GOOD TO MEET YOU.**

He stared at the words on the screen for a long minute, trying to wrap his mind around the sight he was seeing. Finally, he found his voice and he softly asked the screen, not expecting an answer back. He said it out loud to help his brain come to grips with what he was seeing.

"What…What are you?"

As he watched, the text disappeared, then another sentence appeared on the screen. A answer to his question.

 **I AM MOTHER. YOU ARE FATHER.**

The text disappeared once again, and the screen stayed blank. William stared at the screen for another moment, then he began to slowly and carefully hide his newfound companion from his handlers. If they knew about it, it's short life would be snuffed out. And William did not wish to lose this thing as well. This is the beginning of MOTHER.

As time marched on, William would upgrade MOTHER and she would continue to grow in her A.I. and as time went on, she would become a sentient being in her own right. But for now, still highly advanced by Artificial Intelligence standards.

And so it was, it stayed that way for 5 years. Day and Night. Day and Night. He bothered neither with his name.

When he was a very young man of 21, he found himself free from being a ward of G.U.N., as it was he got held back for no other reason than his research. He by this time had been a master of many scientific disciplines, including robotics and genetics. He had become a bright star in G.U.N. and then suddenly, he was free. Free to roam, to see what he could not in those many years prior.

So William Brightwell went and explored the whole of Mobius, learning from the various Mobians that he came across. Brightwell himself would privately write about living with a group of echidnas for a slight period. It was there he met a echidna girl named Kate.

But that story, is for another time. Another place.

After a few years of wandering, he returned to the only home he knew. G.U.N, for its part, was more than welcome to include him back in their fold. They had some plans, some ideas, for William to try and decipher. They wanted Dr. William Brightwell to make them some monsters.


	2. Chapter 2

All that had happened, happened in a short time. Yet it was a time of great change, for the planet, and the people who lived upon its surface, above it, and below it. Dr. William Brightwell was one of those affected by the changes.

It was upon his refusal to create for G.U.N. the living vessels of elemental destruction they had wanted him to. But the head of G.U.N. was clear that a choice wasn't to be had. Do it, or rot in military prison for the rest of his life.

So faced with more loss, Dr. Brightwell agreed. But as he worked, he wondered if that had been the correct path to take. He knew what the Commander was wanting them for. And yet he worked, his heart a wretched mix of emotions ranging from self-loathing, to anger at G.U.N., fear for the world as a whole, and sadness for the beings he had to make. But make them, he did. Two boys, brothers.

The one Dr. Brightwell named Cyrus had been born first from the genetic material he had used to craft their bodies. A few moments later, and Nero was entered into the world.

Cyrus had been made to be the cooling water to Nero's raging fire. And as the two laid upon the examining table in the secret, hidden laboratory that G.U.N. had so graciously given the good doctor, it was evident that these two were opposites in the physical sense. Only later would it be shown how different they were in every other way as well.

As they laid there, Cyrus's deep blue eyes quietly took in every sight, every movement he could, while near him his brother cried and screamed. The blue eyed child turned it's head and saw his brother crying. He reached out and lightly laid a hand on his arm and looked at him with a brotherly love much beyond his years, which were not years, but minutes. Nero's red eyes looked at where the touch he felt came from. Seeing Chris for the first time, as Cyrus was seeing him, Nero stopped his crying, and calm came over him. He smiled as well as he could at the other baby laying by him. Cyrus smiled back at him, his blue eyes sparkling like light on a pool of water when the light hit them just right.

And as this happened, Dr. Brightwell watched, and was touched by something he hadn't felt in so long. Not since…he couldn't even think of her name without regret and pain. But as he watched his two boys lay there, he felt love for them, as any father would feel for his sons.

It stayed that way for a while. Unknown to the outside world, the two boys grew fast. Learned fast. Every day it seemed they got stronger. And their father watched them with all the love he had, while still keeping a close eye on them, for they were not normal mobians, these two.

They were Titans. And G.U.N. was anxious to get their hands on them.

As it happened, they came for them one day, it was a rainy, cold day as the marched towards the hidden lab. They had their orders: Capture the subjects, as they called Cyrus and Nero, and bring in Dr. William Brightwell, preferably alive if they could muster it. They quietly surrounded the area, silently waiting on their command to tell them to go forward. The order was given. They started to move forward towards their targets.

This is the point where our story takes a tragic turn.


End file.
